Someone asked me today how much a balcony affects the price of a condo.

Of course, like more valuation questions, it really depends. Furthermore, valuation is a highly subjective art and science. That said, most will probably agree that a balcony is considered a nice to have feature for a condo. As for the question on how much value it will add to the unit, I would put it around 1-3% (with some exceptions). A lot depends on:

• The size of the balcony

• Its general usefulness

If the balcony adds a materially big amount of square footage, buyers will obviously perceive more value than a smaller balcony. If the balcony is big but faces another building, the value is naturally less than a big balcony facing the Sound.

If there are two units with an equally good view and one of them comes with a balcony, the value can increase as much as 3% even at the high end. It will be hard to imagine someone paying for more than a 4% premium for a balcony.

In summary, the lowest value blaony is one that has no view and is small (this will yield a small 1% premium, if any).The highest value balcony is the one that is big and has a view which can possibly fetch as much as a 3-4% premium.

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What is a balcony's value?

Someone asked me today how much a balcony affects the price of a condo.

Of course, like more valuation questions, it really depends. Furthermore, valuation is a highly subjective art and science. That said, most will probably agree that a balcony is considered a nice to have feature for a condo. As for the question on how much value it will add to the unit, I would put it around 1-3% (with some exceptions). A lot depends on:

• The size of the balcony

• Its general usefulness

If the balcony adds a materially big amount of square footage, buyers will obviously perceive more value than a smaller balcony. If the balcony is big but faces another building, the value is naturally less than a big balcony facing the Sound.

If there are two units with an equally good view and one of them comes with a balcony, the value can increase as much as 3% even at the high end. It will be hard to imagine someone paying for more than a 4% premium for a balcony.

In summary, the lowest value blaony is one that has no view and is small (this will yield a small 1% premium, if any).The highest value balcony is the one that is big and has a view which can possibly fetch as much as a 3-4% premium.

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About the Authors

Marco Kronen is the co-author and a condo Realtor. He and Wendy have worked together serving clients in Seattle since 2007. Feel free to contact Marco here.
Wendy Leung is the founding editor of the Seattle Condo Review. She's also a full-service Seattle realtor.